It is narrated from Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with them both) that Sayyiduna Muhammad bin Maslamah, Abu Abs bin Jabr and Abbad bin Bishr (may Allah be pleased with them) killed Ka'b bin al-Ashraf (the enemy of Islam). When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) looked at them, he said: "These faces have succeeded and prospered." This hadith has a sahih (authentic) chain of narration, but the two Shaykhs did not record it. However, both of them agreed on recording this hadith narrated from Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Who will take responsibility for putting an end to the evil of Ka'b bin al-Ashraf? For he has greatly harmed Allah and His Messenger." But they did not record it with this complete context.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Abs bin Jabr (may Allah be pleased with him) that Ka'b bin al-Ashraf used to compose poetry (satirising the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)), oppose him (peace and blessings be upon him), and go among the tribe of Ghatafan (to incite people). So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Who will put an end to the evil of Ibn al-Ashraf? For he has harmed Allah and His Messenger." Muhammad bin Maslamah al-Harithi (may Allah be pleased with him) said: O Messenger of Allah! I am here; would you like me to kill him? The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) remained silent. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Go to Sa'd bin Mu'adh and consult him." Muhammad bin Maslamah said: I came to Sa'd bin Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him) and mentioned it to him, and he said: Set out for this task with the blessing of Allah, and take with you my nephew al-Harith bin Aws bin Mu'adh, Abbad bin Bishr al-Ashhali, Abu Abs bin Jabr al-Harithi and Abu Na'ilah Silkan bin Waqsh al-Ashhali. Muhammad bin Maslamah said: I met all of them and told them about it, and they all came to me except Silkan. He said: O my brother! In my view your word is true, but I do not want to do this until I speak with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) face to face. So he mentioned it to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Go with your companions." The narrator said: We set out for him at night until we reached his fortress. About this event Sayyiduna Abbad bin Bishr (may Allah be pleased with him) composed verses in which he described their method and the killing in detail. He said: I called out to him, but he paid no heed to my call / until he came out from his upper chamber. I called him again, and he asked: Who is calling? / I said: It is your (foster) brother, Abbad bin Bishr, and these coats of mail of ours are with you as a pledge; keep them for a month or half a month. He said: These are people who are starving and hungry / although they are not deprived of wealth, rather than being in poverty. Then he came down quickly and gladly / and said to us: You have come for a (great) matter. At that time in our right hands were gleaming, sharp swords / well-tried ones, with which we would lay (the enemy) in the dust and cut (them) to pieces. When he came near, I said to my companion: We will attack him with swords the way a sacrificial animal is slaughtered. Then Muhammad bin Maslamah (may Allah be pleased with him) seized him (by the neck) / and roared at him like a fierce lion. Then he brought his sword down on him with full force / and Abu Abs bin Jabr (may Allah be pleased with him) threw him to the ground. At that time Allah Almighty was our sixth, our Protector and Guardian / who granted us the finest blessing and the most honourable victory. And those noble souls came bringing his head / to whom the guide (of guidance) had come with truth and righteousness.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) that Sayyiduna Uthman bin Affan (may Allah be pleased with him) sent me with fifty horsemen to Dhu Khushub, and our commander was Sayyiduna Muhammad bin Maslamah al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him). The narrator said: A man came with a copy of the Qur'an hanging from his neck and a sword in his hand, while tears were flowing from his eyes, and he said: "This (Qur'an) commands us to fight with this (sword) for the commands that are in this (Qur'an)!" Sayyiduna Muhammad bin Maslamah (may Allah be pleased with him) said to him: "Sit down! We fought with this (sword) to establish the commands in this (Qur'an) before you were even born." He kept on counselling him until the man went back. This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs, but they did not record it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Who will take responsibility for putting an end to the evil of this wicked Marhab?" Sayyiduna Muhammad bin Maslamah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: O Messenger of Allah! I am here. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Go to him. O Allah, help him." So Muhammad bin Maslamah stood up. Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) said: By Allah! I have never seen a fight between two men like the one that took place there. When the two came near each other, a tree came between them, and one of them began to take cover behind the tree to protect himself from the other. Whenever one of them was hidden, the other would reach him from behind. The two kept striking at each other again and again with their swords. Then Muhammad bin Maslamah blocked his sword's blow with his shield, and his sword got stuck in the shield, and Marhab was unable to pull it out. Then Muhammad bin Maslamah struck him and killed him. This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of Imam Muslim, but the two Shaykhs did not record it, although there are mutawatir (mass-transmitted) reports with many chains of narration stating that the killer of Marhab was the Commander of the Believers, Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him), one of which is the following:

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Buraydah al-Aslami (may Allah be pleased with him) that when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was encamped before the people of Khaybar, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Tomorrow I will give this banner to a man who loves Allah and His Messenger, and Allah and His Messenger love him." When the next day came, a group of the Companions stretched their necks in hope of it. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) called Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), whose eyes were sore; he (peace and blessings be upon him) applied his saliva to his eyes and gave him the banner. The people advanced with him and came face to face with the people of Khaybar. There Marhab came out reciting rajaz verses, saying: "Khaybar knows that I am Marhab / fully armed, a seasoned hero; when swords come flashing like flames / I sometimes thrust with the spear and sometimes strike." Then he and Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) faced each other and exchanged two blows each. Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) struck him on the head such that the sword went down to his molars, and the people of the army heard the sound of that blow, and he killed him. The last of the people had not yet arrived when victory had already been granted to the first of them. This is a great chapter, which I have presented in detail in "al-Abwab".

It is narrated from Abd al-Malik bin Zayd bin Abdullah bin Sa'id bin Zayd that the lineage of Sayyiduna Sa'id bin Zayd bin Amr bin Nufayl bin Abd al-Uzza bin Riyah bin Razah bin Adi bin Ka'b bin Lu'ayy is such that Amr bin Nufayl and al-Khattab bin Nufayl, the father of Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), were brothers through the father.

It is narrated from Urwah (may Allah have mercy on him) that Sayyiduna Sa'id bin Zayd bin Amr bin Nufayl (may Allah be pleased with him) returned from Syria after the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had returned from the Battle of Badr. He spoke to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) (about his participation), and he (peace and blessings be upon him) allotted him a share (of the spoils). He said: O Messenger of Allah! Will I have my reward as well? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "And your reward as well."

It is narrated from Ibn Ishaq, in the naming of the Companions from Banu Adi bin Ka'b who took part in the Battle of Badr with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), that Sayyiduna Sa'id bin Zayd bin Amr bin Nufayl (may Allah be pleased with him) was among them. His mother was Fatimah bint Ba'jah, from Khuza'ah. He came from Syria after the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had returned from Badr, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) allotted him a share. He said: O Messenger of Allah! Will I have my reward as well? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "And your reward as well."

It is narrated from Zayd bin Aslam that the kunyah of Sayyiduna Sa'id bin Zayd bin Amr bin Nufayl (may Allah be pleased with him) was "Abu al-A'war".

It is narrated from Amr bin Ali that Sayyiduna Sa'id bin Zayd bin Amr bin Nufayl (may Allah be pleased with him) was of wheat-coloured complexion, tall and hairy (with much hair on his body), and his kunyah was "Abu al-A'war".